It's great having friends over.

Hello there,

Robyn and I currently have a visitor here in Australia. Thanh has come to us from Boston. It's always great getting together with friends. Catching up and sharing memories is fun over a cup of tea. Since she's been here, She and Robyn have been all over Brisbane shopping and checking out the local sites. Coming home from work and going out to dinner has been nice as well.

This past weekend, Robyn, Kayla, Thanh, our mutual friend Jay and I went out on an exciting trip. We went out to Lady Elliot Island. The Island is part of the reef with coral for a base. We stayed overnight on the island, meaning we slept on the Great Barrier Reef. Thanh and Jay watch Kayla while Robyn and I dove the Great Barrier Reef. It was fantastic. I saw a few sharks, an eel and the usual fish. What was different was the shear volume of it all. It was like an underwater coral mountain range with hills and layers. Simply beautiful. I now know why they talk about the Great Barrier Reef with such awe, I will join those ranks. I ran out of air and had to surface 10 minutes before Robyn. She saw this great Turtle that was the size of her. She could have rode it, it was so big. The creature life there is just so amazing.

The next day I went snorkeling with Thanh and Jay. We saw 3 Manta Rays that were no less than 6 feet across.

Next we came across 4 different turtles. Here you can touch them and scratch their shells. (It helps clean them.) We also saw an eel and the usual fish. It was great.

After that we flew back to the mainland to hop a barge to Fraser Island. It is the world's largest sand island. There is a base of only sand. The island is huge with the only rain forest to grow on sand in the world. We had nice dinner with the five of us. The next day we took a tour of the island. The island has many clear freshwater lakes, beautiful beaches and forests. The water is so clear, to can barely see the water flowing down a powerful river or creek. There is also a half sunken ship that was marooned on the island after a cyclone hit it.

Now I know we have heard of squeaky cheese, but now we've seen and heard squeaky sand. the beaches on Fraser Island squeak when you walk on them. It's quite a novelty.

Robyn and I also took a quick trip in a small plane to see around the island. As we were up in the air we tried looking for whales, but did not see any. When we got back to the bus though, we spotted to from the shore as we were driving along. Check whale watching off our list!!

Now that we're back home and I'm at work, things have settled down a bit. Kayla can now High Five and Low Five people. She does it with this huge smile. Also, last night, While waiting for our food at dinner. Kayla was smacking the table. So I smacked it once and she repeated. Then I did it twice and she did it twice. She copied the number of table hits perfectly. She is changing into a little girl right in front of our eyes. She has gotten a lot more interactive lately. She always looked around quite a bit, but now looks as if she is trying to figure something out, follows activities. It really is amazing. She also broke some more teeth. She has 3 teeth on the top that has come through. I'm going to miss her 2 bottom teeth only smile, just like I miss her toothless grins when she was smaller. I love being able to be home and watch her grow up.

That's all for now,
Speak to you soon,
David

Our trip to Uluru

    So we just got back from Uluru. It is also known as Ayer's Rock. We spent the weekend there. As we got off the plane, we had to adjust our watches back a half hour. At Uluru, they have a half time zone difference between them and Brisbane or Sydney. It was weird to know that we were out of sync with the rest of the world.
  The tours were nice. The first day we got there we booked our tours with SEIT tours. This was a really good choice because the tours were small and the people were more like us. After booking the tours and getting dinner to go, we walked out to a tall sand dune to watch the sun set and change the colors of Uluru. It was amazing. The sky turned many different colors, from red to orange to purple.
    The next day we got up at 5 am to get to Kata Tjuta for sunrise. Seeing the sun come up over Uluru and the seeing the rocks of Kata Tjuta change was really an experience. Seeing nothing around you but these 2 big structures, which change as the sun rises is something else. We then went on to hike Kata Tjuta. The guide explained the local flora and fauna. We saw Euros, which are just smaller than a kangaroo. We saw a wild camel and the local birds. The guide then explained how these massive rocks were formed in the middle of a desert.
   After that we headed to dinner. There is a fancy dinner there called 'the Sounds of Silence' in which you watch the sun set with Uluru, have a nice fancy dinner and then listen to a star talk since all the stars are nicely visible if the clouds are minimal. Reading up about it in our guide books and on the Internet, we wanted to go. The only problem we had was that they wanted us to pay an extra $84 for Kayla. We explained that she would not be eating and that she was only 9 1/2 months old, but they said that all kids until the age of 12 pays that rate. We opted for the other 'tour dinner' with AATKings. We went into the national park to the official Uluru sunset location, as opposed to outside the park further away with the fancy dinner. After snacks, wine and the sunset, we went to dinner which as a nice BBQ. They had sides of beef sausage and a kangaroo kabob. After dinner, we gathered around the campfire for a 'surprise' star talk. We guide had a powerful laser pointer and pointed out the major constellations, starting with Alpha and Beta Centauri and the Southern Cross. It was a great talk. At the end, he broke out the marshmallows and we roasted them over the bonfire. Then it was off to sleep.
   The next day, we woke up early again to go to Uluru for sunrise. We were right next to the rock as the sun came up and got a real close up view of Uluru as it went through it's color changes. As with the other sunrise hike, SEIT tours provided a nice breakfast. The other tour companies really did not offer a breakfast. We then proceeded to walk the 14 kilometers (8.4 miles) around Uluru. Kayla was in her seated backpack. She got a great view of the whole walk, but fell asleep twice. :) We heard the tales of the local aboriginal people as to why Uluru is shaped the way it is. It is a fascinating culture.
   After our Uluru hike, we went back to our room, napped and played with Kayla. We then went out for a nice dinner. Kayla had her first meal at a restaurant. She had fish with a baked potato and a side of vegetables. Quite a little meal for her. She ate it with gusto enjoying the different flavors. For dessert, they came out with a little ice cream for her. It was her first taste of ice cream. I'm pretty sure she's hooked.
   The next day was our last. We went out to the camel farm. Kayla and I rode a camel. Yes she has now ridden a camel, an elephant and a kangaroo. (Not to mention all the other animals she has petted and played with.) after the camel ride, we went around the shops and then boarded the bus to the airport.
  Overall, it was a wonderful experience.

Speak to you soon,
David

There is nothing like family

So it has been a while since I've typed up my last blog. Things here have been busy. My family came over for Passover. It was fantastic.
First parents came over with Jonny. They all played with Kayla and let Robyn and me relax for a bit. Later my siblings came and we had a grand time. The Seder at my place went well as did the one in the shul on the second day. Afterward we went to the Koala sanctuary and pet some kangaroos and koalas. Next was Surfer's Paradise and hitting the beach. We had a great time. I drove this minibus to get everyone around. It was really something else to see me drive this massive bus on the 'wrong' side of the road. Mom kept talking to the passenger thinking he was driving. It's nice just being around family. They enjoyed seeing Kayla grow up.
When we went to Sydney, we explored the city, climbed the bridge and saw a show at the opera house. Then back in Brisbane, we chilled and saw Thor.
While we did a lot, having the family there as just great. Michelle flew in for only a few days. It meant a lot to me that she made this much effort to see Robyn, Kayla and I. Elliot and I had a great walk by the river and discussed life like we usually do. Ariel and Jonny added their own touch to the holiday and we loved every minute of it.
Spending time with the family like this reminds me why I could never live that far from family. They enrich my life. I love them and was really glad they came to visit.